The defending Class AAAAA state champion Buford Wolves successfully opened the 2018 state tournament with an 82-50 win over visiting Cass Friday night. Buford led 31-8 after one quarter and took a 50-21 to the locker room at halftime as it cruised into the second round. Buford's Marcus Watson led all scorers in the game with 28 points. Mark Chester finished with 16 for Cass, followed by Ashton Burley with 12 and Steven Spell nine. The Wolves (24-4) — Region 8-AAAAA champs — will host the Miller Grove/Riverwood winner next Wednesday or Thursday. Cass — the 4-seed from Region 7-AAAAA — had its season end with a 17-12 mark.

Kyler Pelfrey tossed six strong innings for the pitching victory and keyed much of the Adairsville offense as the Tigers won at county-rival Cass Friday night, 3-0. Pelfrey and Cass starting pitcher Evan Hinton — who both fanned ten each — battled one another through five scoreless innings before the Tigers dented the scoreboard. Pelfrey tripled to start the Adairsville sixth and Garrett Mishoe drove him in with a sacrifice fly for the Tigers’ go-ahead run. Adairsville added two more insurance runs in the seventh on an infield error, an RBI single by Corey Nation and an RBI double by Pelfrey for the 3-0 final. Garrett Mishoe recorded the final three outs on the mound for Adairsville to earn a save. He walked two and struck out two. Nation and Pelfrey both finished with two hits and one RBI. Hunter Hice (double) and Noah Dutton had the other Tigers’ hits. Bryson Markley, Gavin Young, and Matt Shook (double) had the only Cass hits. Shook also stole a base. Cass (1-1) is The Colonels are back in action on Thursday at home against Northview at 5:55. Adairsville (2-0) plays at Model Monday at 5:30 p.m.

Emily Collum had a pair of first half goals and added a third in the second half as Adairsville won at Dalton Thursday night. Chloe Cochran added the other Lady Tigers’ goal in a 4-1 victory. Cat Wheeler assisted on Cochran’s goal and Gillian Johnson had an assist on one of the Collum goals. Dalton’s tally came very late in the game to spoil Adairsville keeper Havyn Isaac’s shutout. She recorded 10 saves in net. Adairsville (2-0) plays at Southeast Whitfield Wednesday. NORTH COBB GIRLS 3, WOODLAND 2 Kaitlin Winnenberg recorded a pair of goals and senior keeper Esmeralda Hernandez had 20 saves, but the Lady Cats lost at North Cobb Thursday, 3-2. The game was tied 1-1 at halftime and Woodland led 2-1 early in the second half on Winnenberg’s second goal. The score came off an assist by Grace Webb, but the Warriors would eventually add the tying and go-ahead goals. Woodland (1-2) hosts Calhoun Tuesday.

The Adairsville boys tennis team improved to 3-0 Thursday with a 4-1 win at Trion while the Lady Tigers lost for the first time this season, 3-2. ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 4, TRION 1 Line 1 — Houston Medlock won 6-0, 6-1 Line 2 — Cody Kimbrough lost 7-6, 4-6, 5-10 Line 3 — Cameron O’Neal won 6-2, 6-7, 13-11 Line 1 — Zach Ogle / Jason Burdette won 6-2, 7-5 Line 2 — Landon Swanson / Travon Branch won 6-2, 6-3 TRION GIRLS 3, ADAIRSVILLE 2 Line 1 — Megan Smith won 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 Line 2 — Chloe DeBerry lost 0-6, 4-6 Line 3 — Lorin Walraven lost 1-6, 1-6 Exhibition — Madison Camp won 8-0 Line 1 — Micaela Pardo / Audrey Mixon lost 0-6, 1-6 Line 2 — Hannah Adcock / Olivia Long won 6-4, 6-0 Exhibition — Kayleigh Collum / Joie Bryant won 8-0

Kennesaw Mountain broke open a scoreless game Thursday night at Cartersville’s Richard Bell Field with an RBI bunt single by Ryland Goede and an RBI double by Gavin Scaggs as the visiting Mustangs edged the Canes, 2-0. It was another night of solid pitching for both teams as both staffs allowed only two hits apiece. Anthony Seigler tossed four innings of hitless baseball to open on the mound for Cartersville. He fanned six. J.P. Martin (2.1 IP, 2ER, 0H, 1BB, 5K) followed with Jake Gooch (0.2 IP, 0R, 2H, 1K) retiring the final two outs. Cole Garrett tossed a complete game for Kennesaw Mountain as the Mustangs improved to 2-0 on the young season. Garrett walked one and struck out ten. Martin and Mason Barnett had the only Cartersville hits in the game — both in the second inning when Martin doubled and Barnett reached on a ground ball single. The Canes loaded the bases in the inning, but could not push across a run. Cartersville (1-1) will look to bounce back by hosting Lambert Friday at Richard Bell Field at 5:55 p.m.

Matt Shook doubled home the go-ahead run and a trio of Cass pitchers limited visiting Rockmart to only one earned run Thursday night in a 3-2 season opening win for the Colonels. Rockmart took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, but Cass responded in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of runs. Gavin Young doubled before Shook was hit by a pitch. Clay Means followed with an RBI double to knot the game at 1-1. After Evan Hinton was intentionally walked to load the bases, Nathan Smith was hit by a pitch that gave the Colonels a 2-1 lead. The Yellow Jackets took advantage of a hit batsman and a Cass error in the top of the sixth to tie the score again at 2-2, but the Colonels answered again in the bottom of the frame. Parker Hardin singled with one out in the bottom of the sixth and Shook drove him home with a two-out double into right-center field. Blaine Ingram (3 IP, 0R, 3H, 3BB, 4K) started on the mound for Cass. Means (2 IP, 2R, 1ER, 5H, 1BB, 1K) worked the middle innings and Nic Wallin (2 IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 3K) picked up the pitching win by recording the final six outs. Means finished with two hits for Cass and one RBI. Thomas Botts, Bryson Markley, Hardin, Young, and Shook had the other Colonels’ hits. Kole Holder, Evan Ratcliff, and Cody Paramore had two hits each for Rockmart (0-1). Cass (1-0) hosts Adairsville Friday at 5:30 p.m. and will play Wheeler and Columbia Saturday in games at Pickens County.

The Adairsville baseball team posted eight runs across the first four innings Wednesday night as the Tigers defeated visiting Model, 8-3 to open the 2018 season. Tigers’ pitcher Caden Gibbs (4 IP, 1ER, 4H, 2BB, 3K) picked up the win. Chase Horn (3 IP, 2R, 0ER, 0H, 1BB, 6K) closed out the game. B.J. Roper had three hits at the top of the Tigers’ order and scored twice. Halen Huskins drove in a run with two hits. Hunter Hice, Trace Still, Garrett Mishoe, and Kyler Pelfrey had one hit and one RBI each. Horn had the other Tigers’ hit. Adairsville (1-0) plays at Cass Friday.

Three Cartersville pitchers combined to throw a shutout Wednesday as the Hurricanes opened the 2018 season with a 3-0 shutout at Sequoyah. Devin Warner blasted a two-run homer in the third inning to score Preston Welchel who had singled earlier. Anthony Seigler scored the Canes’ other run on a flyout in the sixth off the bat of Jake Gooch. Mason Barnett (3 IP, 0R, 1H, 7K) started on the mound for Cartersville. Levi Ayers (3 IP, 0R, 1H, 3K) worked the middle innings and Seigler (1 IP, 0R, 1H, 1K) closed out the victory for the Hurricanes. The Cartersville pitching trio did not issue a walk. Pitching was strong for both sides as Canes’ pitchers combined to fan eleven and Chiefs’ pitchers sat down nine. Clemson commit Justin Wrobleski (3 IP, 2ER, 2H, 1BB, 5K) suffered the pitching loss for Sequoyah. Nick Fagerburg (3 IP, 1ER, 0H, 2BB, 2K) and Brett Wissell (1 IP, 2K) also pitched. Tanner Carruth, Alejandro Morales, and Hunter Long had the only hits for Sequoyah — all singles. Cartersville (1-0) hosts Kennesaw Mountain Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Lambert Saturday at at 12 noon at Richard Bell Field.

CARTERSVILLE BOYS 5, MURRAY COUNTY 0 Cartersville’s Will Allen, Matthew Slocum, and Griffin Shaw each won opening day singles matches, while the doubles teams of Juan Azaueta / Davis Edwards and Ivy Nelson / Ross Norword also took straight sets victories as the Canes made it a clean sweep of Murray County to open the 2018 season. CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 5, MURRAY COUNTY 0 Lady Canes’ Ashley Popham, Emma McCary, and Ansley Thompson all won singles matches 6-0, 6-0 and the doubles teams of Jordan Ross / Lydia Wiedetz and Alice Terry / Chloe Satterfield won in straight sets.

The Cartersville soccer teams swept Troup County Tuesday night. Cass swept visiting Cedartown, and the Adairsville teams split with Gordon Central in local high school soccer action around the county. CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 10, TROUP CO. 0 Lady Canes’ senior Marissa Mowry scored four goals, while sophomores Micah Vance and Linet Chege found the back of the net twice as Cartersville cruised to a Region 5-AAAA victory. Rebecca Hays and Ansley Roper added the other Lady Canes’ goals. Cartersville (2-0, 1-0) plays at Chestatee Friday at 6 p.m. CARTERSVILLE BOYS 9, TROUP CO. 0 Led by sophomore Pedro Ghanem’s six goals, the Canes won their Region 5-AAAA opener Tuesday night. Bill Archer scored twice and Grant Farmer added a goal for Cartersville (2-1, 1-0). Ethan Eckert earned the shutout in net for the Hurricanes. Cartersville plays at Chestatee on Friday at 8 p.m. CASS GIRLS 10, CEDARTOWN 1 Logan Vermaas scored three goals and Mattie Shook scored twice to help lead the Lady Colonels to their first win of the year Tuesday night at home. Brittney Ochoa, Leidi Torres, Macy Wright, Jocelyn Pineda, and Lupita Pineda each added a goal to round out the Cass scoring. Lupita Pineda and Kinzie Tompkins finished with a pair of assists each. Olivia Flynn and Hannah Johnson were each credited with an assist. Cass (1-2) plays at Sprayberry Friday at 6 p.m. CASS BOYS 6, CEDARTOWN 1 The Colonels broke open a close contest in the final eight minutes Tuesday night to put away visiting Cedartown, 6-1. The Bulldogs led 1-0 early, but Cass evened the score at the intermission on a goal by Julio Medina off an assist from Anthony Robledo. The Colonels took a 2-1 lead early in the second half on a Carlos Perez goal from Robledo and the score remained that close until a late Cass scoring surge. Isai Romero picked up the win in net for the Colonels, recording 12 saves. Two goals by Robledo, one more by Medina, and one by Kevin Polo helped the Colonels pull away late. Jonathan Tong was credited with an assist on one of the Robledo scores. Cass (1-2) travels to Sprayberry Friday. ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 4, GORDON CENTRAL 0 Emily Collum scored two goals while Gillian Johnson and Chloe Cochran added one each as the Lady Tigers blanked Gordon Central, 4-0. Lauren Stephenson assisted on the first of Collum’s goals. Adairsville’s Havyn Isaac earned the shutout as the Lady Tigers’ goalkeeper. Adairsville (1-0) travels to Dalton Thursday. GORDON CENTRAL BOYS 4, ADAIRSVILLE 0 The Tigers lost their opener Tuesday night, falling to visiting Gordon Central 4-0. Adairsville hosts Bremen next Tuesday.

The Adairsville High School girls and boys tennis teams have started the 2018 season with a pair of wins each. The Lady Tigers and Tigers defeated Pepperell Tuesday evening and had a win over Pepperell last Thursday. Feb. 13 ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 4, PEPPERELL 1 Line 1 — Houston Medlock won 6-2, 6-0 Line 2 — Cody Kimbrough won 6-4-6-2 Line 3 — Gideon Conant lost 0-6, 0-6 Line 1 — Jason Burdette / Zach Ogle won 6-0, 6-3 Line 2 — Davis Hardin / Landon Swanson won 7-6, 6-0 ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 5, PEPPERELL 0 Line 1 — Megan Smith won 6-3, 6-3 Line 2 — Alexandra Kanturek won 6-4, 6-2 Line 3 — Brantley Hughes won 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 Exhibition — Hannah Adcock won 4-1, 4-0 Line 1 — Micaela Pardo / Audrey Mixon won 6-0, 7-6 Line 2 — Olivia Long / Madison Camp won N/A Exhibition — Joie Bryant / Kayleigh Collum won 4-0, 4-0 Feb. 8 ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 3, CHATTOOGA 2 Line 1 — Alexandra Kanturek lost 6-4, 9-6, 4-10 Line 2 — Brantley Hughes won 7-6, 6-4 Line 3 — Hannah Adcock won 6-0, 6-0 Line 1 — Micaela Pardo / Audrey Mixon won 6-2, 6-7, 10-7 Line 2 — Olivia Long / Madison Camp lost 6-3, 5-7, 8-10 Line 3 (exhibition) — Kayleigh Collum / Joie Bryant won 8-3 ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 5, CHATTOOGA 0 Line 1 — Cody Kimbrough won 5-7, 6-3, 10-5 Line 2 — Cameron O’Neal won 6-1, 6-3 Line 3 — Davis Hardin won 6-0, 6-0 Line 1 — Jason Burdette / Zach Ogle won 6-0, 6-0 Line 2 — Landon Swanson / Travon Branch won 8-3

The Woodland baseball team fell behind early Tuesday evening and could not recover in an 8-4 non-region home loss to Armuchee. The Wildcats out-hit the Indians nine to six, but struggled to push runs across the plate. Bleu Swanson drove in three runs and scored three runs himself to lead the Indians attack. Jacob Stanley had two hits for Armuchee (1-0) including a double and one RBI. Koby Stansel and Tyler Dilcher (RBI) had two hits apiece for Woodland. Bailey Ward and Bryce Evans drove in one run and had one hit. Dylan Webb, Marco Haro, and Garrett Cornett had the other Woodland base hits. Stansel (4IP, 7R, 3ER, 5H, 2BB, 7K) started on the mound for Woodland and suffered the pitching loss. Ben Ammons (2IP, 0R, 1H, 2K) and Seth McGill (1IP, 1R, 0ER, 0H, 1BB) pitched in relief for the Wildcats. Woodland (0-1) plays at Rockmart Monday at 5:30 p.m. and at Armuchee next Tuesday at 4 p.m.